1. What action should a technician avoid when dealing with a talkative customer?
- giving the customer a full minute to talk
- asking closed-ended questions to regain control of the conversation
- stepping in and attempting to refocus the customer
- asking social questions such as “How are you today?”
Explanation: When dealing with a talkative customer, the technician should not encourage non-problem related conversation. Instead, the technician should try to get the customer to refocus on the problem.
2. Which programming language utilizes scripts that are interpreted and executed line by line when the script is run?
- C#
- Java
- PowerShell
- C++
Explanation: Scripting languages are different than compiled languages because each line is interpreted and then executed when the script is run. Scripting languages include Windows batch files, PowerShell, Linux shell script, VBScript, JavaScript, and Python.
3. What is considered ethical behavior by a technician when communicating with a customer?
- It is normal to send chain emails to customers.
- A technician can send mass emails to customers.
- A technician can send forged emails to customers.
- A technician must only send solicited emails.
Explanation: Unsolicited, chain and forged emails are unethical, and maybe illegal, and must not be sent by a technician to a customer.
4. A programmer uses an operator to compare two variable values within a program. The variable A is assigned a value of 5 and the valuable B is assigned a value of 7. Which condition test syntax would have provided the result of “true”?
- A >= B
- A == B
- A > B
- A != B
Explanation: == represents equal
!= represents not equal
< represents less than
> represents greater than
<= represents less than or equal to
>= represents greater than or equal to
Because 5 is not equal to 7, the resulting output is “true”.
5. A customer is explaining a problem with a computer to a technician. The technician recognizes the problem prior to the customer finishing the explanation. What should the technician do?
- Ask the customer to repeat the problem so that the technician can document it and verify all the facts.
- Interrupt the customer and let the customer know that the technician knows what the problem is.
- Wait politely for the customer to finish explaining the problem.
- Start working on the PC while listening to the customer at the same time.
Explanation: It is always important to allow the customer to finish explaining the problem at hand. You should always be attentive and actively listen to the customer without interrupting and acknowledge the customer occasionally to affirm that you are actively listening to the customer.
6. Once a technician understands a customer complaint, it is common to ask closed-ended questions. Which question is a close-ended one?
- What error messages were displayed when the error occurred?
- Is this the first time the error occurred?
- What happened after the error occurred?
- What happened before the error occurred?
Explanation: During the troubleshooting, when the technician listens and understands the computer problems from the customer, some more questions may need to be asked to gather further information. These follow up questions should be targeted and closed-ended questions based on the information that have been provided by the customer. The closed-ended questions should be focused on specific aspects and the customer should be able to answer such questions with a simple “yes” or “no” or with a factual response.
7. Which situation would require that a support desk call be given the highest priority?
- Some computers cannot log in to the network.
- A couple of computers have operating system errors.
- A user is requesting a RAM memory upgrade.
- The company cannot operate because of a system failure.
- Two users are requesting an application enhancement.
Explanation: Call prioritization is a very important task for a call center. Call prioritization saves time by solving the most important issues first. A failure that stops company operations should be considered a top priority.
8. A customer is upset and wants to speak to a specific technician to resolve a problem immediately. The requested technician is away from the office for the next hour. What is the best way to handle this call?
- Make an offer to help the customer immediately, and advise the customer that otherwise the requested technician will call the customer back within two hours.
- Refer the angry customer to a supervisor.
- Ignore the request for the specific technician by walking through a step-by-step process with the customer in an attempt to refocus the customer and solve the problem.
- Advise the customer that the requested technician is out of the office and insist on trying to resolve the problem.
Explanation: If a customer wants to talk to a specific technician, try to contact that technician and see if the technician can take the call. If the technician is not available, try to make an effort to help the customer and tell the customer that the favorite technician will contact the customer later if the customer prefers to wait.
9. A technician working on a computer discovers what is suspected to be illegal activity. Which three pieces of information should be immediately documented? (Choose three.)
- why the computer was accessed by the technician
- technical specifications of the computer
- evidence of the suspected illegal activity
- details of all past users of the computer
- duration of the suspected illegal activity
- location of the computer
Explanation: The initial reason for accessing the computer, the suspected illegal matter or operations, and the location of the computer are immediately apparent to the technician and should be among the first details documented. Details of past computer users and the duration of the illegal activity are matters that the appropriate investigators will determine. The technical specifications of the computer may have little relevance to its illegal use.
10. What are two examples of displaying professional communication skills while talking to a customer? (Choose two.)
- asking customers to paraphrase their explanations
- the use of active listening, with occasional interjections such as “I see” or “I understand”
- focusing on what you cannot do to give customers an idea of the magnitude of the problem
- interrupting customers with a question to gather more information
- clarifying what customers say after they have finished their explanations
Explanation: It is very important to make customers feel that they are being listened to. Interacting with them and using some interjections to let them know that you are listening, or paraphrasing the problem back to them, will show that you are listening. Interrupting them or making customers repeat what they just said and focusing on what you cannot do will only make customers angry.
11. Which statement best describes a call center?
- It is a help desk environment where the customers go with their computers to have them fixed.
- It is a busy, fast-paced work environment that documents computer problems after they have been repaired by technicians.
- It is a place to provide computer support to customers.
- It is a help desk used by customers to make an appointment to report their computer problems.
Explanation: A call center might exist within a company and offer service to the employees of that company as well as to the customers of that company. Alternatively, a call center might be an independent business that sells computer support as a service to outside customers. In either case, a call center is a busy, fast-paced work environment, often operating 24 hours a day.
12. What approach should a technician take when receiving a call from a stressed customer?
- Ask the customer to telephone back when the customer is feeling less stressed.
- Ask the customer to hold, and then wait five minutes for the customer to calm down.
- Try to establish a rapport with the customer.
- Transfer the customer to a level-two technician who will ask the customer to explain the problem again.
Explanation: Customers who have computer problems probably feel stressed. A technician should establish a good rapport with a customer, which might allow the customer to relax a little bit. A relaxed customer might provide more information that will help in troubleshooting the problem.
13. A programmer is building a script in order to calculate the corporate bank account balance within two decimal places. Which data type would be used in the script to represent the balance?
- char
- float
- Bool
- int
Explanation: The basic data types used in a script include:
- int that represents integers
- char that represents characters
- float that represents decimal numbers
- strings that represents alphanumeric characters
- Bool that represents true or false
14. A supervisor received a complaint that one of the technicians was rude and disrespectful. Which action by the technician most likely caused the customer to complain?
- The technician occasionally confirmed an understanding of the problem.
- The customer was escalated to a level-two technician.
- The technician ended the call without saying ‘Have a nice day’.
- The technician interrupted a number of times to ask questions.
Explanation: When talking with a customer, a technician should allow the customer to tell the whole story. The technician should not interrupt the customer, behavior that can be perceived as rude and disrespectful and may create tension between the customer and the technician.
15. In which situation would it be appropriate for a technician to back up personal and confidential data from a computer belonging to a customer?
- if the customer forgets to sign the work order
- if the customer permits it
- if illegal content is discovered on the customer computer
- if the technician feels it necessary to back it up
Explanation: It is important to obtain written consent from the customer prior to backing up any data from the customer PC.
16. What category of technician uses remote access software to update a computer belonging to a customer?
- level two technicians
- field technicians
- bench technicians
- level one technicians
Explanation: A bench technician often performs computer warranty service in a central depot or work facility. Level one and two technicians mainly work in call centers, but only level 2 technicians are using remote access software. Field technicians work on site, in private homes, businesses, and schools.
17. What two roles or tasks are associated with the level one technician? (Choose two.)
- gathering customer information to initiate a work order
- gathering diagnostic information from a customer computer
- escalating a trouble ticket to a level two technician
- receiving escalated work orders from level two technicians
- remotely updating customer drivers and software
Explanation: A level one technician is primarily tasked with gathering pertinent information from the customer and then accurately entering that information into a trouble ticket or a work order. Sometimes the level one technician must escalate the problem to a level two technician if the problem requires a higher level of expertise.
18. What is the correct way to conduct a telephone call to troubleshoot a computer problem?
- Maintain professional behavior at all times.
- Explain each step to help the customer understand the troubleshooting process.
- Ask personal questions to get better acquainted with the customer.
- Always gather information from the customer and escalate the problem.
Explanation: It is important for a technician, when talking by phone with a customer, to be professional. Also, having good communication skills enhances credibility with the customer.
19. Which of the following roles or tasks are associated with a level two technician? (Choose two.)
- editing a shell script to run when the server starts
- installing the new BIOS update when it is available
- scheduling a task to run at a specific time and date
- deleting caches and cookies after the web browser closes
Explanation: A level one technician is primarily tasked with gathering pertinent information from the customer and then accurately entering that information into a trouble ticket or a work order. Sometimes a level one technician must escalate a task or problem to a level two technician if the problem requires a higher level of expertise.